Fil-American Ana Julaton’s successful title-retention victory of her World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight championship over no. 1 challenger Franchesca Alcanter over the weekend placed the Philippines once again on top of the world boxing map.

The 30-year-old Bay Area-based Julaton completed what turned out a very successful Philippine campaign in the sport of sweet science in the month of February.
Not only that, she stands to crown herself the world’s pound-for-pound queen, if there is one accorded in women’s boxing opposite compatriot and eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao, the men’s undisputed king in the men’s class.

Ana could also easily make it to the 100 Great Filipino Athletes to be honored by the Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP) in celebration of the 100th Year Anniversary of organized sports in the country.
The highlight, of course, the Filipino campaigners’ 4 win card for the month that just ended was Nonito Donaire Jr’s winning the men’s version of the WBO/WBC bantamweight crown with a sensational second round stoppage of erstwhile considered as the best 118-pound fighter in the world only a week prior.
Julaton, Christened “The Hurricane” and the “Female Boxing Pride of the Philippines”, incidentally, is also the belt-owner of the International Boxing Association version of the 122-pound title.
Successful in wearing the two super-bantamweight plums, Julaton now wants to unify the division by annexing, too, the World Boxing Association belt by seeking a rematch with holder Lisa Brown, who thwarted her in her bid last year.
Reason why, she said, she put her planned retirement put for the moment.

“I’d love to meet her again,” Julaton told this writer in an interview during her brief visit here early February. “It’s no longer be about Lisa. It’s all about me, she reasoned out.
“I wasn’t myself in our first fight. I didn’t do what I was supposed to. I didn’t do what I was capable of doing, she recalled. “But it’ll be different when we fight again,” she promised, adding though she must first hurdle Alcanter, which she did with aplomb.
In foregoing her planned retirement at age 30, the pretty, statuesque Julaton, who looks more of a model than boxer, she feels she’s is just starting in her career “In women’s boxing, the peak years are when you’re 30 to 40,” he said.
Julaton was born to a Filipino couple as Luciana Bonifacio Julaton on July 5, 1980 in San Francisco, California. Her father, Cesario Julaton II, was brought by his parents to the United States in 1963 when he was just three years old. Her mother, Amelia Bonifacito, born 1969, came to the US in 1986.

Ana admitted that she never learned Tagalog because she was raised by an English-speaking home. “My lolo, Cesario I, who came from a family of farmers in Pangasinan, enlisted in the US Army in Guam when he was a young man. During their time, there was still a lot of racial discrimination. I guess that is why my family decided to raise us speaking English so we can blend more easily in the States.”

Ana is the eldest of a brood of two. Her younger brother, Cesario III is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from Uof California-Berkeley
Her parents wanted her to me a doctor or a lawyer, but her love for martial arts and has, in fact, a black-belter in karate before moving to boxing, debuting as an amateur in 2004 and immediately won a silver in the San Francisco division world championships the following year.
In 2006, Julaton emerged triumphantly one after another in the U.S. National Diamond Belt Championships, California State Championships, San Francisco Golden Gloves; and Rank No. 5 Quarter-finalist, United States Championship. In 2007, Ana became the Gold Medalist, San Francisco Championship, and Silver Medalist in the United States Championship.
The same year, she took part in the in the unsuccessful campaign to include women’s boxing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics calendar before deciding to turn pro and joined Freddie Roach’s stable of fighters that includes boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and former world champion Gerry Peñalosa.

She was about to make her professional debut against Hondi Hernandez as part of the undercard of the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch in October 2007, but her fight was canceled when Hernandez failed to make the weight limit. Julaton instead fought and won against Rita Valentini one month later. This was followed by several other successful fights, culminating in her first title win against Kelsey “The Road Warrior” Jeffries last 12 September 2009 for the vacant International Boxing Association super bantamweight title in women’s boxing.

Ana was then trained by Nonito Donaire Sr., father of boxer Nonito Donaire Jr. Julaton then defeated Donna Biggers, becoming the first female World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight champion.

(Contributing editor’s note: Arden Diale of the Philippines lost to WBO flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda in Mexico Feb27 Manila Time making the tally 4W-1L for Pinoys fighting abroad)